Is Colombia’s justice system too weak to try the powerful Uribe?

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Colombia’s Supreme Court has “abundant” evidence to jail ex-president Alvaro Uribe on witness tampering charges, but the country’s justice system may be too weak to stand up to the powerful politician.

The court has been gathering evidence to support witness tampering charges since February. Since then, one witness against Uribe has been assassinated and two others survived assassination attempts.

The former president is being investigated for “conspiracy, homicide and other” crimes, according to a court order urging increased protection of witnesses against the far-right politician.

Uribe, who rose to prominence in the shadow of Pablo Escobar‘s Medellin Cartel, has been accused of forming death squads as well as dozens of other crimes.

Uribe vs. Justice

Barcelo is trying to push the investigation forward, claiming that elected officials should be tried by a newly approved chamber that allows those convicted to appeal decisions.

This argument, however, has been rejected in the case against other politicians and is unconstitutional, according to judicial experts consulted by La Nueva Prensa.

“The Supreme Court and Mr. Barcelo cannot pause their duties,” one judicial expert told the newspaper, who stressed that electing the new chamber could take years.

The list of alleged crimes committed by Uribe has been growing for years already. The Supreme Court has 28 criminal cases pending against the former president. Congress has a backlog of more than 185 cases related to crimes allegedly committed by Uribe when he was president.

Is Colombia’s justice system too weak to try the powerful Uribe? was last modified: May 17th, 2018 by Adriaan Alsema